Up above the world so high

He was sitting by the door of the shop, bearing the pungent smells of different spices, as they were being fried near him in a huge bowl, which he had been seeing since some “ages”. It was a popular dhaaba in which he had been working. He was lazily daydreaming, when he the shop owner coming inside. “Aye Rohan, three cups of tea”. I went down to get them. When I came back after telling the cook to make the tea, I stood at the kitchen’s door, and looked at my master, busy yapping down on his mobile. He found this gadget very peculiar. It had just been introduced, and was totally new for him. Meera didi came walking near him, and perched herself on a stool near the kitchen. She started working on the profit and loss of the shop for the current day, but was interrupted by Rohan’s voiceà “Didi, yeah mobile se hum kisi se bhi baat kar sakte hai?”. (Can we talk to anyone with this mobile thingie?)She look up at him, irritated on being interrupted,and hastily replied “Haan. Kar sakte hai.” (Yeah. We can) Seeing her being irritated he kept mum, and went down to lie down, quickly covering his face with the torn and tattered piece of cloth as a “blanket”. He didn’t realize when he feel into a deep sleep, and when he realized, the shop was about to be closed, and there were hardly any people left in the shop. He didn’t have to worry, because he lived nearby, in Meera didi’s mansion. The only difference was that she lived in a mansion, and he in the small and lonely servant quarters. He had seen a PCO near by, and he thought this would be a great chance to talk to the person who he had been longing to. He immediately took some pennies he had saved up, and putting on a woollen cap, hurried towards the PCO. He picked up the receiver and a middle-aged man’s gruff voice came down “Kaun hai?” (Whose it?) “Mai Rohan, mujhe baat karni hai!”(I’m Rohan. I want to talk.) “Tu baat hi kar raha hai, bewakoof”, he replied, with a crustiness in his voice. “Maaf kariyega. Mujhe apni maa se baat karni hai”. (I’m sorry, I want to talk to my mother.) “Number batao, kaha rehti hai?” (Tell me the number, where does she stay?”) “Number toh mujhe nahi pata.” (I don’t know the number) “ Toh kya maine duniya bhar ke maaon ka number leke rakha hai?” (So have I kept record of the world’s mommies’ phone numbers?) “Maafi Sahab ji. Who yahaan nahi rehti. Who aasmaan ke paar,kisi chamakte sitaarein mein hai” (She doesn’t stay here, she beyond the sky, happily living in a bright star) “Pleease meri unse baat karwa dijiye. Main unko harr roz sapne mei milta hoon, woh kehti hai ki woh mujhse jaldi milne aaengi. Lekin abhi tak nahi aayi. (Please let me talk to her. I always meet her in my dreams, she promises to come soon. But she hasn’t till now”

“I miss her”